Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Pelargoniumxc3x97hortorum cultivar Balfanvio.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Geranium plant, botanically known as Pelargoniumxc3x97hortorum, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Balfanvioxe2x80x99.
The new Geranium is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Arroyo Grande, Calif. The objective of the breeding program is to develop new upright and vigorous Zonal Geranium cultivars that flower uniformly and have attractive flower and foliage colors.
The new Geranium originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in 1999 of a proprietary selection of Pelargoniumxc3x97hortorum identified as code number 1164, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Pelargoniumxc3x97hortorum identified as code number 6494-26, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar Balfanvio was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny from this cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Arroyo Grande, Calif.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken at Arroyo Grande, Calif., since September, 1999, has shown that the unique features of this new Geranium are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Balfanvioxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Balfanvioxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct Geranium cultivar:
1. Upright and mounded growth habit.
2. Dark green-colored leaves with a distinct zonation pattern.
3. Red purple-colored semi-double flowers.
Plants of the new Geranium differ primarily from plants of the parent selections in leaf and flower coloration.
The new Geranium can be compared to the Pelargoniumxc3x97hortorum cultivar Baldesvio, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,676. However, in side-by-side comparisons conducted in West Chicago, Ill., plants of the new Geranium differed from plants of the cultivar Baldesvio in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Geranium had larger inflorescences than plants of the cultivar Baldesvio.
2. Plants of the new Geranium had fewer flowers per umbel than plants of the cultivar Baldesvio.
3. Plants of the new Geranium had shorter peduncles than plants of the cultivar Baldesvio.
4. Plants of the new Geranium had longer pedicels than plants of the cultivar Baldesvio.